Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett early favorite for 2017 Defensive ROTY

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 05: Defensive lineman Myles Garrett of Texas A&M participates in a drill during day five of the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 5, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 05: Defensive lineman Myles Garrett of Texas A&M participates in a drill during day five of the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on March 5, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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The Cleveland Browns expect big things out of Myles Garrett in 2017, which could include bringing home some awards after the season.

Cleveland Browns fans were able to see Myles Garrett dominate against the second-team offense in Friday’s Orange and Brown Scrimmage, and we should get to see him against some starters in next Thursday’s preseason opener.

Even though Friday was against some backups, it was nice to see Garrett going at full speed after some foot problems this offseason.

A recent article on NFL Spin Zone went through and predicted each NFL award that will be handed out following the season, and Garrett showed up as the choice for Defensive Rookie of the Year.

From the article:

"Helping him will be the fact that Cleveland really doesn’t have a bad group of defenders around him. Fellow defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah had a good rookie season in 2016 and Danny Shelton is one of the brighter young nose tackles in the game. Behind them is linebacker Jamie Collins and they even added another first-round playmaker in Michigan safety/linebacker Jabrill Peppers."

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The fact the Browns have some legitimate talent along the defensive front will help shift all the focus away from Garrett, opening up opportunities for him to rack up some great numbers.

His main competition for the award will likely be Solomon Thomas, Jonathan Allen or even teammate Jabrill Peppers, but Garrett is the early favorite as he was such a highly regarded talent coming out of college.

His status as the number one overall pick doesn’t mean he is a lock to be a star, but his physical abilities do make it hard to imagine him having a bad season in 2017.

The key, as with any player, is to stay healthy, and his past injuries are indeed a concern. Yet there is no point in worrying about the potential for an injury as anyone on a football field can get hurt at any time. Worrying about it happening would make watching the game far more stressful than it already is with the way this team has played since 1999.

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Browns fans just want the team to win, but seeing the number one overall pick be given an award after the season would be a nice change after so many first-round picks have struggled or been a distraction for the franchise.